AOK

Mae had her checkup today and everything looks good. She seems in excellent health and on-target developmentally. She is such a mimic-I think she is a very bright little girl! She was quite fussy tonight so I'm hoping tomorrow is better. We are going to Wash Park in Denver to meet up with some other Denver families from our travel group.
Oh, here are the stats! She is above average on the American Growth Chart, so no need to even use the Chinese one. Wow!

Height: 28 3/4" (80%)
Weight: 19# 14oz. (60%)
Head: 17 3/4" (75%)

getting into the groove

Today was a good day. We had the JCC Picnic today at preschool (tomorrow is the official last day.) Ted played happily the whole time with his little friends. Sam had a so-so good time, considerable whining that I wouldn't come over to play with him. Mae did great except for the 2 times I walked away to help Sam, when she freaked out. It was rewarding and sad at the same time...when I came back she just buried her little face in my shoulder and sobbed. I hope it won't take her too long to believe that "Mama always comes back." All in all, wrangling all 3 wasn't too hard and I got out tonight with Ole for a wonderful hike around 8pm. I may have to do that more often-so cool and peaceful. Tomorrow is a big day! Last day of school (sob!) for the boys, a meeting with the rabbi to discuss Mae's naming ceremony on the 16th, and her first visit to the doctor. Paul has a soccer game tomorrow night so it will be my first time putting all 3 to bed. Should be interesting!

heaven on earth

Today we all went to Brendan's 4th birthday party. Brendan is in our chavurah and he and Ted play very well together. This party was a little boy's idea of heaven. There were 4 stations set up: a little wading pool filled with flour, a huge mud area with trucks, a crazy sprinkler, and finger paints. Ted played with Hannah and Brendan in the beginning, but for the serious mud-slinging and flour dumping, he paired up with Jaron from preschool. Jaron (and his twin brother Seth) are a year ahead, in Hannah's class, but the two boys got along great and were by far the two who enjoyed the party the most. After all of that fun, they broke a rocket-ship pinata full of candy, had cupcakes and popsicles, and got their goody bags. Can you say "perfect day" for a little boy? Happy Birthday Brendan!

where there's a will...

...there's a way. Yes, it's true. 3 children can fit in a normal-sized bathtub. The addition of Mae eliminates some of the splashing and spitting that has become standard, so that's nice. We had dinner at a Mexican place with the Krams' and everyone did great. It was only 2 weekdays, but I am glad it's the weekend!

life is good

Today was my first day alone, although Paul was working in the basement and was there for the lunch/nap ordeal and took over at 5pm on the dot...lucky me! We got a car wash and visited with Karin, Henry's grandmother. The boys love her and she gave them a little science lesson while throwing stones in a little ravine near their house. Sam had a few very sad moments (like when I reprimanded him for waking Mae up...hmmm) but not bad. Ted is exhausted and needs more sleep, but is still being a sweet big brother. At the end of the day, I got to tuck Ted in, sing and cuddle Sam, and give Mae her favorite Chinese rice cereal bottle while she cooed at me. Life is good. It's just completely exhausting.

Things are calming down...sort of

Sleep is definately improving! Mae went down last night (and again tonight) at 8pm and slept til 5:30am. She had some breakfast and was down again by 6am, then slept til 8:30. 5:30 was her wake-up time in China, so I think she is becoming adjusted to the time change-hooray! She is becoming more and more giggly (especially when tickled) and loves watching her brothers. Ted is such a clown and she laps it up. Sam is great at saying "It's OK, Mae." when she cries. Both boys are still having some adjustment issues, but all in all, they are doing quite well with HER, which is really the point. Tomorrow we are planning to drive down to Denver and meet up with 3 other families from our TG. It will be nice to see them again...hope the boys can stay entertained. I've uploaded the BabyJellyBeans journal entries and will work on getting the photos linked soon. It will be a nice keepsake. We still need to edit the video and return the camera to our friends who lent it to us. It will be nice to have 'the trip' officially documented, so we can turn our attention the re-adoption and post-placement paperwork. Fellow CCAI friends with a 6/3 LID are leaving soon and the next batch of referrals is on the way. Exciting times for everyone. Last night I stayed up til 9:15pm! Tonight I am aiming for 9:30. Off to clean the kitchen.

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home on Thursday afternoon. It is wonderful to be home. My project is to upload the BabyJellyBeans site here to Blogger. I have 3 days to do it. After I do that, I will start updating about our current states of nuttiness. 3 kids is certainly an adjustment, but everyone is doing pretty darn well. Thank you to everyone who followed our journey...it was great to have so many people behind us!!

Red Couch Photo Day

Today was really hard for me. I was an emotional wreck and grumpy to boot. Poor Susan. I started the day with a visit to the Embassy to re-do the Vaccination Certificate. That took over 2 hours, but luckily Mae’s morning nap took that entire time. Then we went out to finish up our shopping and have lunch. We ate at a place near the hotel but very ‘real food’ and Paul would have loved my dish-oyster soup. Then Mae took another awesome nap while I melted down with 2 other families…that felt good. Colleen Barber and I are on the same page with the ‘what the heck have I done’ feeling, and she has 3 boys at home that she is missing too. Her husband is with her and Mae adores Bob…Paul, maybe you should have kept your goatee anyway…she loves Bob’s. We had the Red Couch photos and dinner at Lucy’s. Tonight we packed and have our departure forms to write up. Tomorrow is a Zoo trip, but it’s getting reeeeeally windy, so I may skip it. We take the Oath at 4pm at the Consulate tomorrow and leave directly for the airport with the Thomas’ and the Newman/Allen’s. So, this is my last post until we return. It may take me a few days to post, so if that happens, don’t worry! This has been a fabulous trip, but about 2 days too long. Wish us luck that the boys transition well, and that Mae and I recover quickly from the inevitable jetlag. Thanks for following our trip…your comments have really helped me through. And thanks a gajillion to Susan…I couldn’t have done it without you!!

Physicals & Paperwork

Today was a slightly frustrating day. It started out well-Mae woke for a bottle at 5am but was back down by 5:30 and slept in til 8! We had breakfast and met the group at 10:30 to walk to the hospital for the physicals. Those were quick and painless; Mae is officially the biggest baby at 21.4 pounds. Then we shopped a bit and Mae napped a bit in her stroller. After a bottle and some playtime, she was ready for a nap again and slept right through the Visa paperwork meeting at 4:30. That was a drag-tons of paperwork, lots of which was different for me with POA. Then, of all annoyances, on ONE of the documents they wanted her Chinese name with the first name FIRST for a change…Xiang Huai. That threw me and I used white-out, and have to be at Bruce’s door at 8:30am to go to the consulate to re-do that page. Luckily another family has a mistake too and I’m not the only idiot. I’m so mad at myself. Oh well. After the paperwork we played for a little bit in the playroom…no walkers but lots of other fun stuff. She liked the activity tables a lot…Paul, is ours still around or did we toss it? Then we did some more shopping and met our group at the Cow & Bridge Thai Restaurant. Great food but lousy service and Mae barely held on long enough for her steamed egg and congee to arrive. We made it through though and met a family from, of all places, Dubuque, IA. She works in the German seminary in town. How funny! Their last name is Yarnell. Mae was melting down by the end of the dinner, so we scurried home and got her bathed (and was starting to smell a little…) and in bed by 8. Whew! I plan to go to bed early and try to cheer up by tomorrow!! Tomorrow we wait around for the Visa paperwork to go through – our official Consulate Appointment (funny how we don’t actually go to our own appointment…). Tomorrow night are the Red Couch Photos, we take the oath on Wednesday after the zoo, and (if the monsoon doesn’t hit before Wednesday night) fly to LA. Cross your toes-I really really really am ready to come home!!!

Mother's Day & Six Banyan Temple Blessing

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms and moms-to-be out there! Today was a grumpy day for Mae, but a nice one for us. She got up at 6am today and we headed down to the famous buffet at 6:30. Hong Kong spoiled me and I’m not that impressed with it as a result. It was ok. Then she got in a quick 40minute nap before we went on our tour. It was a good one. First we went to the Six Banyan Temple and had the babies blessed by a monk. That felt very ‘right,’ like a last farewell to the religion they were born into. Then we went to the Provincial Arts and Crafts store, where I found a beautiful Maj set and a great pants/jacket for Mae’s White Swan/1st birthday photos. She had a bit of a meltdown there, so our rep Kathy led me to the tea room to feed her. Of course the ladies wanted her bottle hotter…um…geesh! After her bottle she pooped, and then fell asleep when we reached the Chen Family Temple. I found an artist who painted with black paint with the side of his hand…amazing…and he had done one of the Xiang River! That was great as it was something I really wanted to take home to frame. Then we got home but since she had cat-napped, she wouldn’t nap. So we went to a place recommend by a shopkeeper that we liked…Shanghai cuisine. It was great! I had a delicious soup with scallops and Mae had vegetable congee and tofu noodles (!). Home again for a nap in the stroller and then off to have the Visa photo taken. That was at the same place I brought the camera with the orphanage pictures on it to be developed. I was very disappointed to learn that the camera itself was bad, and only one pic was able to be developed out of the 10 it looked like they had taken. I am going to take it somewhere at home just to be sure, but she gave me the film back and it doesn’t look good…so disappointing. Then we all came back to Susan’s room. We spread the doona covers on the floor for the babies to play on and we ordered from Danny’s Bagels. Mae is a good Jewish girl and loves her bagel and cream cheese! Lots of beer and wine flowed, and we all watched the video of Gotcha. It was nice to just relax with everyone. The babies seemed quite happy to hang out together. Around 7 everyone started melting down so we broke it up and got Mae to bed. Tomorrow is a big day: Physical Exam and Visa paperwork. I really missed Paul today and finally found a phone card, so I will call him tomorrow, in the early evening Denver time. I miss my family!! But we are having a good time here…much more relaxed and none of the babies are very sick at all, just mild colds. Good times.

at the White Swan at last

We made it!! We are at the White Swan. Whew!! I am so relaxed that I now feel all the tension in my shoulders and neck. Susan and I hope to get a few $6USD massages in while we’re here! We left Changsha at 2pm. We tried Benedry on Mae and she passed out right away, but only for about 1.5hrs. However, she and all the babies were truly stellar on the plane. No one really fussed at all. Mae played for a while and slept for a while. We were met by Kathy and Bruce and settled into our adjoining rooms (connected by a door! Woo hoo!) in the White Swan. The rooms are not large, but have nice features such as dimming lights and a fancy bathroom. It is very nice…although non baby tub so I got in with Mae tonight, after a grilled cheese and carrot soup at Lucy’s. She didn’t mind at all and my only problem was keeping her from putting her face in the water to blow bubbles! She is a true water baby-my summer will be tougher than I thought with 3 kiddos at the pool. Good things both boys love to swim and are safe in the water. While checking in here, I saw Joanne from CO and some others we had been with in Hong Kong. It’s nice to recognize people here. It’s funny because just about everyone I’ve seen has a Chinese baby in tow. Weird sense of normality. Well, we are pooped and are going to chill and get some sleep. Tomorrow we will tour the city and have dinner at the Thai Restaurant-the Cow and Sheep (yikes!) Whew! This is the easy part now.

Embroidery Factory

Today is our last full day in Changsha and we have a meeting at 4:30pm to check over all of our documents before flying to Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon. This morning we had a tour of the embroidery factory. Hunan Province is famous for it’s embroidery, mainly because they have a “magic” technique of having a different design on each side. It’s really amazing and I can’t imagine how it’s done. Maybe works have been commissioned or given as gifts to Americans, namely FDR and GW. There were lots of ‘portraits’ of Mao as well. It was really amazing how perfect they were-just like pictures. There were 3 different gift shop rooms, and I was really disappointed that the only ‘work’ that had the Xiang river on it was $3000 USD. oh well. I bought Mae a beautiful embroidered pants and jacket outfit that she will probably wear at age 2 or so. I figure we can do some official portraits and then put it in a shadow box to display the beauty that comes from her home province. Also a beautiful scarf that she can wear when she is older. Mae insisted on a diaper change at 3am, but went right back down. A similar thing occurred at 5, with a bottle, and then right down. She finally got up for the day at 7am…not too bad. She was only able to squeeze in a half hour nap before the tour, so we brought the stroller so she could nap at the factory, but she just sat upright in her stroller, happy as could be, playing with her ‘silly monkey’ and eating cookies. Ayi SuSu discovered chicken broth at breakfast and after spooning some in her eager little mouth, we put some in a bottle and she sucked it down. Hooray! I figure she will learn to deal with veggie broth after she gets home! We also had another breakfast of green bean congee, interspersed with plain. I think that is really the key to her ‘regularity.’ We tried to put her down for a nap after the tour, but she only dozed for about 45 minutes. So we visited the hotel pool, which was FREEZING, but she really liked it. I think she will love warm pools if she liked this one so much. Then we ordered her some steamed egg, gave her a formula-no-rice bottle, and she’s down for her nap. Hopefully she will sleep while I am at the meeting. Then we will have a final dinner out here in Changsha before prepping for departure tomorrow.

-Friday evening
Shabbat shalom from China! I have 2 things to journal about…no pics, but I don’t want to forget these moments. Mae was still napping when I went to the 4:30 meeting. We had to carefully check all the documents (birth certificate, abandonment certificate, adoption certificate, passport, etc.) for misspellings or wrong dates…stressful!! After the paperwork part was over, Daphne explained that she and Ellen had a gift for their nieces. They had a small bit of soil (nothing to declare!) in a Hunan-embroidered red bag for each baby. (I am tearing up just writing this…) She said there is a Chinese custom of carrying a little bit of soil when you travel far away, so that you don’t ever get homesick. She said (and yes, tears were a-rolling, both from the parents and Daphne) that our daughters always have family here, that she and Ellen consider all of our babies as nieces, and they are welcome to come stay at their homes if they visit. She went on to talk about how the Chinese have a long way to go to catch up materialistically to the Westerners, but that they have good hearts and work hard, and they are good people. She hopes when someone asks our daughters where they are from, they will be able to answer “from China” with pride and dignity, because it is a good country. We were all a mess by this time. After everyone had regained their composure she got back to basics with our meeting and check out times for tomorrow. Then they left while we stayed to chat about tipping them…heaven knows they went above and beyond their duties for all of us, every single day.
Here is the 2nd great moment. I went back to the room to get my fees in order for the tours and tips from the week and had a note from Susan that they were in the playroom. So I did all that and went up to join them. The minute Mae saw me, her face lit up and she did a little jig in her walker and started chattering. Susan said she had been very fussy in the room and when they went up to the playroom she wouldn’t play, just stayed put in the walker looking tentative, watching. So, while that was frustrating for Susan, it means I have done my job and Mae knows I am #1. It’s a good feeling. We’ll work on adding Daddy in soon enough.
Then we had dinner at the same buffet where we had breakfast and, Paul, I tried the snake! It was too spicy anyway. But the food was very good, if strange. Lots of random creatures still intact, sitting in warming pans (cooked of course! But still…) Mae was very adventurous tonight, eating almost everything I offered her. Her favorites were egg noodles and watermelon. Then we came back to the room to start packing. She had a bath (I got SOAKED with her splashing) and bottle and went right down. If she does as well tonight as last night, I will be happy. I felt more rested today than I have since we got her. I also took some great video tonight that I will try and upload, if not tonight then in the next few days, of her fabulous belly laugh. What a great sound that is. Good night from Changsha, for the last time.

Martyr’s Park & the Xiang River

Today was a great day. She slept through the night from 7:30pm-5am. I did have to change her diaper at 3, but she went right back to sleep. What the heck?.. She had a bottle and played a little and was back down at 5:30, and then up for the day at 6:30. That coincided nicely with the breakfast hours, so down we went. They had green bean congee today, which she didn’t like, but I’d alternate 4-5 bites of plain with one of green bean. She’d get the most disgusted look on her face! But, to date, she has never spit anything out.
You’d think by my 3rd child I would have learned to bring a stroller when an activity interferes with nap time! Thanks for the reminder, Susan! Mae took a great nap in her stroller while we strolled through Martyr’s Park, just 10 minutes from our hotel. I took LOTS of great video here. People were singing, playing instruments, practicing Tai Chi, ballroom and sword dancing, and many other ‘local’ activities. People were more interested in us here and it was nice to have our little explanations in our lanyards. I dressed Mae for the day in a one-piece little romper. At breakfast Daphne advised me to dress her in long pants and shirt with a jacket or people would bother me. So I changed her, and the first little lady who came up to us told me she was too hot! I tell you, you just can’t please them all.
After the park we went to the Changsha side of the Xiang river, which Mae was named for, and which divides the province. Changsha is the commercial side and the other side is mountainous. It was another foggy day but you can see some mountains on the other side of the river if you look closely. After walking a bit, we joined Daphne and Ellen on a bench. There was a local family there with 2 boys, one about 5 and the other 2 or so. They were very cute and eating the HUGEST rice sticks…they looked alarmingly like the rawhide bones we get for Ole. They also had something that looked like Cheetos, although they were not cheesy. The father told his little son (who kept going over to Mae in her stroller and she would touch his face or swat him) to give Mae some of the Cheetos-like snack and both boys did. She actually put down her little cookie stick to gobble them up. I am going to look for some tomorrow. Then we came back to the hotel and she is taking an awesome nap. We are meeting in the playroom tonight at 5:30 for a pizza party (yes, they have Pizza Hut here!) and the Huaihua Orphanage Director is going to come to collect the extra donations from our families. They are going to buy a washing machine (theirs is 10 years old), a dryer and a bottle sterilizer. Probably more too…I am in charge of collecting the money and people are being very generous. About half of our group had the common sense to bring their donation to Adoption Day, but the rest of us weren’t that together. They are bringing another set of babies to Changsha today so we don’t have to wire the money to them. They have obviously taken such good care of these babies. A few of them are mildly sick (just a fever and some coughing) but in general, they are a healthy crew. Little Addie is having the toughest time, just missing her nanny terribly. Joanie and Don are exhausted but are doing so well. Sam was such a hard baby and I don’t know if I would have done half as well as they are doing…halfway around the world with no close friends or family to help. Our group is supportive, but it’s not the same. Addie is a lucky girl to have such devoted parents. I am sure she and Mae were in the same room-I discovered they had the same shoes on for their referral pics and they look at each other with such calmness, like they are thinking, “Oh yes, it’s you.” Susan has gone exploring but tonight I’ll upload her pics and see what goodies she snapped. I was so busy doing video that I didn’t take a lot of photos. I hope to create a nice video for Mae about Hunan province. They people here are very nice and friendly.
8pm…a late bedtime for Mae, but she did have a 3 hour afternoon nap. We had a great afternoon. She ate an entire order of steamed egg and then we played in the playroom. The Director, Asst. Director and a different staff person came to the playroom to receive the extra donations from TG950. I believe the total was about $1400. It was kind of weird to hand the money over, but Susan pointed out that they wanted us to know that they knew the amount…that they wouldn’t just pocket most of it. The director spoke and I video-ed it on my camera…which doesn’t upload on the Mac…sigh…but it was a great speech. There are about 40 babies in the orphanage and about 50 special needs children. The Asst. Director took a pic of every baby with her new mama and the Director was so pleasant and kind. I didn’t doubt it before, but now I KNOW how well cared for these babies were. Don pointed out that they had spoiled Addie, which got a laugh out of all of them. The babies were getting a bit over stimulated in the room so adjourned to the Mikan Suite for a pizza party. Mae had her 2nd BM of the day (woo hoo!), a very splashy bath, and a bottle. Let’s hope we make it past 4:45am tomorrow…

Shopping in Changsha

It’s 7:15 and Mae is in her crib, not quite asleep yet. Today was exhausting. She had a restless night and was up every hour or so, crying. Around 4:30am I got a good burp out of her, gave her a morning bottle, and got her down for another hour. Then she was up for good. We had breakfast, 2 big ladles of congee, and she got in a small hour nap before our sojourn to the local department store. We picked up some good things- namely a thinner pillow for her which she really likes. I should have listened to my gut and let her nap and not go to the store. She hated the bus ride there, lasted about 5 minutes in the store before losing it (luckily she chilled in the food court with some baby cookies-thanks Robert & Renee!!) and the bus ride home was a nightmare. The moms stayed on the bus with the babies while the other halves got McD’s for lunch (not quite the same). She flipped out, throwing her head back a la Sam and screaming her head off. Deb’s mom really saved me by making a bottle for her. She didn’t really want it, but calmed down enough to fall asleep on me. Of course she didn’t transfer well and only slept about an hour. The doctor, Mrs. Su, was making her rounds anyway. I thought Mae had a mild fever this morning and had given her one dose of Tylenol which seemed to help. This afternoon Mrs. Su pronounced her just fine, a little dry skin and a mild red throat, probably from all the yelling she did that morning. We went down to the playroom and that was really fun. I put her in a walker and she just took off (sideways!) She kept rolling out of the room trying to go down the hall. When 3-year old Georgia Mikan came down, she followed her around, so I think she will like having big brothers around. Then I tried to let her rest a little before our group dinner, so again she only got about 30 minutes. (I would never do this at home!! But here I really enjoy being with the group so I’m sacrificing her sleep a little too much I think. I already told Daphne that we are going to do pizza in the playroom tomorrow night. All the other parents seemed relieved at that too.) We have all really liked the food here. Spicy, but not too-too, and really yummy. I think I’ll try to find some good Hunan recipes. They are just so tasty. Susan thought earlier that we should utilize the stroller the hotel provides so we did and that was great for the restaurant (why don’t these places have high chairs?!) She enjoyed the steamed egg again tonight-she is such a great eater. She won’t eat prunes or juice though. She had a good BM tonight (yesterday’s was a little too hard for my liking). I know that TMI but with all the rice they put in their bottles it is really hard to keep ‘em regular!
Attention!!! Chuck Wing thinks that any of you who can’t view the video should download QuickTime onto your computer…that should do it. It’s worth it!!! We’re going to have an early night and tomorrow we go to Martyr’s Park. We should see some locals doing their local morning exercise and hear some music! Should be fun. If I have the energy, I’ll download another short video of Mae playing tonight. She is such a good sport, even when she’s tired. So, go get QuickTime! ☺

Adoption Day

May 9 (morning nap)
Today we had a big morning. We met the group at 8am and went back to the Civil Affairs Office for Adoption Day. We had a brief interview with the same woman who matched Mae’s face to her paperwork yesterday. Then they stamped my thumb over my name and Mae’s right foot (which she didn’t appreciate). All the babies were hot and tired so we gave her a water bottle and she fell asleep on Susan for about 40 minutes. We transferred her to me when the Orphanage Director, Asst. Director and a staff member came in to talk with us. She is asleep in the pictures but I wanted her to have a picture with them. I asked them about the congee recipe but Daphne said they are all the same, just boiled rice. All the Chinese so far love to shake her little foot, although they were quick to notice that she didn’t have her right foot sock on. We came back and she is taking a real nap. I am pooped! We will go out with the group to a local restaurant tonight at 5 to celebrate. Mae is OFFICIALLY ours!!

(7:15pm)
Mae is asleep for the night. She loves holding and sucking on the corner of the pink blanket. It took her a while to settle down tonight and I think she had eaten too much at dinner and had a too-full tummy. It was egg and I discovered that she was comfortable being fed with chopsticks, so we went with that and she loved it. She also has refused her water bottle today so I decided to have her suck on a watermelon slice rather than end up squeezing all the useful juice out of it by chopping it up. She thought that was great too! What a cutie. After her 3-hour power nap this afternoon, we went back to the local store to stock up on formula and diapers and attracted a lot of stares. Two older ladies tried to talk to us, but we couldn’t follow. Luckily our lanyard says CCAI’s name on it in Chinese. Dinner was a delicious restaurant 2 doors down..yum! Corn with pine nuts…interesting combination and yummy too. I finally had a dish that was too spicy for me-first time all trip! It was Hunan spiced sugar snap peas. Luckily we had local beer to help with the zing. I think I uploaded the video in the wrong format, which is why people can’t get it. I am going to try tonight or tomorrow afternoon to reformat it, so try again tomorrow and hopefully it will work. G’night!

Mae Day

May 8, 7:30pm
Ahhh….What a day. I will start at the beginning, but FYI, our Mae HuaiXiang is peacefully sleeping for the night. According to her info, she wakes at midnight for a diaper change (?) I bet she will want to eat-this girl likes her food! OK, to the beginning:

Our wake-up call was at 6am with a 7:30am paperwork meeting. Very tough for me because I have Power of Attorney, lots of things were different on my paperwork. Daphne and Ellen were great about helping me through it all. We boarded the bus at 9am for the Civil Affairs Office, about a 20min drive. Daphne talked the whole way about what we could expect and what we could do to help the babies adjust, etc. Before we knew it we were there. There were nannies with babies waving at the window..that got us really teary. We took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and marveled at all the hair the babies had…everyone was taking pics and video and sniffling. Then Daphne came in... “Those are not your babies!!” she explained and we all cracked up…figures!! She had us line up with our passports, while Susan took a side position for video access (she did a fantastic job!!! Thank you, Ayi SuSu!!) I don’t even remember what order I was, but the Thomas fam was first…so cool! When my name was called I stepped up and handed the girl my passport. A nanny came in holding Mae and the girl compared her picture. “Big baby!” she said. I didn’t think she was that big, but some of the others are very petite. The nanny handed her to me and she started crying right away and didn’t stop til she was back at the hotel with a bottle in her tummy. But her cry wasn’t very loud so it wasn’t too bad for the rest of the bus. We got back and Ayi SuSu prepared her first bottle, which she CHUGGED. Then we changed her diaper (no Velcro on the one she was in) and her little sweaty outfit into a fresh one. She barely fits into the sx70 Hanna’s I have for her, and the 6-9 month jammies are not going to cut it for much longer. I put her in her crib and she cried for all of 30 seconds and fell asleep. Amazing! She makes a sweet little sucking sound with her lips, as if she had a binky. She does fine without one so I’m not going to introduce one, but it is so cute! Susan went with the group to the local Mom ‘n Pop grocery store and picked up essentials. She slept for 1.5hrs and then we played on the bed (her fav toy is a huge Ramen noodles like Styrofoam container – she’s going to be a drummer!) We ordered her some congee and steamed egg, which she loved. I am going to ask the nanny tomorrow for the recipes-she is a fabulous eater! She also gulped down an 8oz bottle of water. She was rubbing her eyes, so we put her down for another nap and BAM!... out like a light. About half an hour later a noise woke her and then the doctor came, Mrs. Lu. Mae didn’t like that one bit and after that cried when we put her on her back. She was pronounced healthy with lots of mosquito bites. 2 of the other babies have upper respitory infections and are on antibiotics. They have husky coughs and goopey noses, poor things! Then we played with Addie Thomas and Amber McDonald and then went to dinner at 5. Again she enjoyed the congee and egg. She started getting fussy around 6:30 so I took her up and gave her a bath, which she liked, but she was frustrated that she could ‘get’ the stickers on the bottom of the little baby tub. We dried off and played at the mirror-she thinks that is so funny! At the beginning I thought she was going to laugh but she would cry…now she only gives an angry cry when she is frustrated with something. She seems to be adjusting easily…let’s hope that continues! I put on the Chinese lullabye CD and gave her another bottle. I tried to get a burp out of her (the 1st bottle produced 3 burps-I was so proud as I’m not a very good burper) but none tonight. Then I popped her in the crib and she promptly rolled onto her side and went to sleep! According to her paperwork she will wake at midnight for a diaper change. The diapers the orphanage used have no Velcro so I can see that they would get wet easily. Her diapers haven’t been wet, in spite of all she has taken in. She is a lovely baby and seems to be quite happy with us. She will cry when Susan holds her, which is a good sign that she considers me the primary caregiver. She weighed 10kg (about 22 pounds) and my back is killing me. Tomorrow we go back to the Civil Affairs office for our interviews. Now I just have to work on ‘living in the present.’ All I want to do now is come home to the rest of my family!

Pink Bunny Addendum
I forgot 2 important tidbits. We did receive some of the things back that we sent, which was great. We got back both camera, from us and from BlessedKids with a few pics taken. I’m sure we’ll develop them while we’re in Changsha. We also got back the photo album and the pink bunny. This pink bunny, and all the toys/blankets that were returned, were D-I-R-T-Y!!! Not sure if the babies have a lot of ‘outside playing in the dirt’ time or what, but WOW!! We gave her the photo album but are going to hide the ‘old’ bunny til we can power wash it. She sleeps with the ‘new’ one, but doesn’t seem that attached to it. She does love the blanket that Sarah made, though. A blankie girl!
The other bit of info I forgot was that she is quite a talker. Her first word was “Addah” which I was sure meant Ayi or just baby talk, like baba for American babies. Well, she is using it now is the “again!” context, which is cool. We will have complete conversations using ‘adda’ and ‘dah’ as well as mimic sessions. She makes really high squeaky noises, blows raspberries (both the wet and dry variety!), and in general tries to copy any noise we make, expecting us to them mimic her back. I predict she will be an early talker. OK, I’ll close for the night!

Day 5 - Hong Kong

May 6, evening on plane
It is 7:35pm and we are in the air. The ripples of excitement are crazy!!! For the very first time on this entire trip, I am not hungry…too many ripples, I guess. The first-timers don’t realize it, but in our rooms in the hotel tonight, there will be a crib. It will be a rough morning…we are to meet at 7:30am to fill out paperwork. Susan and I have been staying up late, doing email and the webpage, taking baths and generally yakking. Tomorrow will come quickly. Especially since we’ve had the luxury of sleeping in til 8:30 in Hong Kong. That’s OK….I’ll sleep in 17 years, right?

Later, at the hotel
We have arrived. The flight was only an hour and between taking off, eating, filling out immigration forms and landing, it was a fast hour. Daphne and Ellen met us at the airport and we took an information-overload 40minute busride to the Dolton Hotel in Changsha. Nice, but there is a difference between Hong Kong 5 star and mainland China 5star. Still, it is sweet. There is a crib in the room and a baby bathtub. The big tub and toilet seat cover have Winnie the Pooh stickers on them. CCAI put a case of bottled water in our room (only $4 USD!) and a box of formula and a box of rice cereal. Tomorrow at our 7:20am meeting we will fill out forms and learn how to make a Chinese bottle. We received updated information too. Mae is friends with Sophia, the only girl in our group with a ton of hair. How cute!! It says she still gets up at 1am for a diaper change but will go back to sleep. Tomorrow night should be interesting, to say the least. None of us with a Mac can manage to get online tonight, thus the delay in posting. Hopefully we will be able to post early in the morning. Otherwise, no one will care about this post anyway! I can’t believe this day is finally here.

Day 4 - Hope Foster Care

May 5, evening
We are in Hong Kong! The Shangri-La is VERY posh…now I understand what a 5star hotel is all about. There is even a remote to open the window coverings. And the music pumps into the bathroom (which has a bidet). We arrived around 9pm and are really tired, but I had to order the cheese platter (since I had no dinner) and Susan is relaxing in the tub. This is the life! We spent the morning at Hope Foster Care playing with the kids, after a tour from Robin, the director/founder. It is a wonderful place…2 children to every nanny…that’s more attention than my 3 will get! The children were obviously well cared for and were really funny and happy. Joanie was able to get in some quality time with Josie, the baby she sponsored. ‘My’ baby had already been sent back to her orphanage to be adopted, we think. Tomorrow we have a big tour of all the sights of Hong Kong. There are 2 busses full of CCAI families, so our group is combined with some others who will then fly to different provinces. Should be a fun day! I am so glad we are already adjusted to the time zone, and my little digestive issue seems to be resolved. Whenever I eat, I feel nauseous, so that is a bummer, since I love food. I’m trying to eat lightly and simply. More tomorrow!

Day 3 - Touring Beijing

May 4 Early Thu morning
Last night we went to Beijing Noodles, a local restaurant Tom recommended. I can honestly say it was the most delicious Chinese food I’ve ever eaten. Fabulous!! I had eggplant in fish sauce and garlic snowpeas. I didn’t like my noodles much (yellow bean paste sauce…tasted a bit like old sock..) Then we went to the Kung Fu show which reminded me of a Chinese version of Riverdance. Lots of KungFu moves, very fast and rhythmic or very slow and ballet-like, all telling the story of KungFu. Very exciting show. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel and collapsed. The Great Wall today…I can hardly wait!

Afternoon May 4, or Adventures with Ethel Part 2
I think that I am Ethel and Susan is Lucy in our duo. What a day! We visited a Jade Factory on our way to the Great Wall today and it was wonderful. It was really interesting to see how they carve the jade, and the different colors that exist. Tom told us that the sculpture is a Beijing specialty, so buy any sculptures here and jewelry can be bought anywhere else. It was such a beautiful space. Can you believe the ship sculpture?! I bought Mae a pendant with her zodiac sign (Rooster) which is a traditional thing for a child to wear. When she turns 18, she should wear a Laughing Buddha pendant or a bracelet. I’m going to go for the bracelet for this tradition. They gave us a (fake) pendant of a lock and key as a little token (symbolizing the money they made from us non-bargainers? Heh heh.) Then we were off to the Juyong Pass section of the Great Wall (the Badaling section was going to be too crowded and the Juyong Pass section was more beautiful, said Tom. It was fabulous-what an amazing thing it was. Don and I decided to go up the steep and famous section while Joanie and Susan took the less-scenic but room-to-maneuver section and we met back an hour and a half later. Whew!!! That was a SERIOUS climb! But we made it to the top of our section and rested at the top. The views were breathtaking and only a book can do them justice…I know my pictures can’t capture the majesty of it all. Then we went to lunch and to a closinnaire factory (sp?) Susan isn’t here with the spelling…want to know why? Because I spent 98% of the tour IN THE BATHROOM!!!! Thank heaven they had Western toilets. I’ve been really careful about water so I’m not sure what caused it but, WOW, am I hurting. I got dropped off at the hotel while the others went to the Pearl Market and the Temple of Heaven. I felt much better with the security of a bathroom at hand. And Immodium. Thank you, Susan-probably the one OTC med I didn’t bring. But the adventures of Ethel aren’t over yet! Oh no! I got into the room and found my key didn’t turn on the electricity (you plug your keychain into a slot). So down I went to the front desk, waited for a long time, and was told it was fixed. Back up I went and now the key didn’t work and I couldn’t get in!! Back downstairs and waited a really unreasonable amount of time behind a nice German man and his aunt (he looked exactly like Pat Mason...I think that’s why I was brave enough to speak to him…in German! WOO HOO!) The concierge assured me that it was now fixed but that Housekeeping would help me get in. I went back up and sure enough, I could get in but…are you ready?...the electricity didn’t work! Ahhh!! She went to get the electrician (2nd time he’s been to our room so far) and he fixed it. This whole event took about an hour. So my plan is to order some room service (why am I STILL starving all the time?) and lay low tonight. Tomorrow the Thomas family and I visit Hope Foster Care and then we all fly to Hong Kong in the evening to meet up with the other CCAI families. I really hope I am better by tomorrow. Better now than on Tuesday though!! So long, folks!

Day 1 - Touring in Beijing

May 3-before tour
We’ve just returned from the fabulous breakfast buffet at the Novotel. Delicious!! I tried some congee with pickled vegetables. I had some for breakfast on the airplane too. Boring but good. Also lots of eggs to get my protein in for the day! It was a huge buffet. We sat with the Thomas’ and we all chuckled over the fact that the Novotel is a 4 star hotel…what in the world if 5 star going to be like??? We are headed to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City today. I can’t believe it! What a trip of a lifetime.

Back from our tour, sore and happy. Because this entire week is their week-long holiday, there were TONS AND TONS of people everywhere. Our guide Tom decided to take us to the Summer Palace, Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was a looong day, but we are resting now and will go to dinner and to a Kung Fu show tonight. Cool! Here are some pics from the day. The beauty and expansiveness of everything is overwhelming and magnificent. What a splendid culture.

We made it!

May 1 – the lost day
I learned another hard lesson – not all airports have wireless. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my Ethernet cord, so I have to buy one asap…or borrow the Thomas’! I met them in the terminal while waiting for Susan to arrive and we all had dinner together and are seated in the same row. They are so nice, and very funny. We are already having a great time. China Southern Premium Economy class is luxurious. Our seats are wide with plenty of legroom. They kept bringing us stuff at the beginning…a hot towel to wash our hands (made me crave sushi), a huge newspaper, a little bag of toiletries, slippers….it was really cool. About an hour or so after we were on our way, I popped an Ambien and settled in…and then they brought dinner! Oops! It was delicious, but Susan said I fell asleep eating a strawberry. How embarrassing! I woke up about 8 hours later and they fed me breakfast- my first congee. It was good, in a savory rather than a sweet way, but still delicious. I read “A Pavillion of Women” in its entirety and plan to leave it on the plane here-great book. We have about an hour til we land and it will be 6:30am there. We then fly to Beijing and start touring up a storm! It will be a long day. I know that at about 3pm I will crash but right now it feels perfectly natural that it is morning.
As soon as I can find an Ethernet cord in Beijing, I will update the website. So far, we are well taken care of and quite cheerful!

May 2 (on blog)
Susan: We had some dinner and boarded out flight to Guangshou in
Business Class. Woo-hoo, that was very nice!! Slippers, toiletry kit, and
food served on china dishes. We settled in and I decided to skip
dinner and have a scotch with my lunesta instead. I looked over at Ellen as
she was finishing up her dinner and noticed she had a roll in her right
hand and a strawberry in her left and her strawberry was trying to make
it to her mouth, hers eyes were closed and she bumped the stawberry
into her lips and WOKE HERSELF UP!!!! Too funny--like a little kid!! We
had a good laugh and went to sleep. Thankfully we woke up about 7
hours later--pretty nice! Eventually we landed in Guangshou waited for our
plane by having some breaky--both Ellen and I ordered iced coffees, sat
down took a big swig and realized that we had ice in our drinks and
didn't finish the rest. No travelers sickness for us!

May 2 –evening
We’ve just returned from the most HEAVENLY massage experience. The language barrier was huge and we ended up canning the spa idea and just paying for our massages. Mine was incredible. Never had one quite that good before-even though it was a fully clothed one (Susan’s wasn’t-she had a womanl and I had a man-I wonder if it’s a decency thing? Anyway, in spite of clothes, it rocked. My neck REALLY hurts and he did a great job. It still hurts now…but while he was working on it, it felt soooo good. We both had a strange shower/bath experience (language issue but weird all the same…) We are about to head out to dinner after we each hop in the shower. I am really exhausted-I feel like I’ve adjusted already to the time change (it’s 6:30 here and I feel like having dinner and then going to bed are the logical order of things) but I bet I’ll wake up at the crack of dawn. We are to report to the lobby, fed, at 8:30am for our tour. The weather is humid but cool-ahhh. The bus rides to and from our last leg were so surreal. Not only were we crammed on there like sardines, but there was no AC and lots of body odor. Whew! Outside our hotel window is a huge street with a parking lot on one side for about 200 bikes, a subway line, and about 5 rickshaws. What an interesting blend of the old and the new.

Now it is early May 3 am (6am our time) and we woke refreshed and a bit sore from our massages. I’m doing some emails and then we’ll shower and head down to breakfast and off to our tour of the day. I’ll be sure to post pics this afternoon. Last night was a hoot- we lost all power in our room for a while.